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The
cause of pain is the association or identification of the seer (ātmā) with the
seen (prakṛti) and the remedy lies in
their dissociation. (tr BKS Iyengar)

We are
both the Seer and the Seen. The former is that which is unchanging. Ātmā is
pure universal consciousness. This is the observer that is unchanging in its
response to its environment. The Seen, on the other hand is part of the
material world and is continuously changing. Prakṛti is comprised of material objects, the intellect,
the mind and the ego, which are constantly experiencing fluctuations. Just
think about how your nails grow or your skin changes, or how many different
thoughts and emotions overwhelm you on a regular basis. All of this is
nature/prakṛti/dṛśyayoḥ/that which is seen.

We
encounter difficulty and pain when the Seer and the Seen become confused, when
the Seer within us mistakes that which is seen as unchanging, universal truths.
We can easily experience a moment of pain, discomfort, or anxiety and forget
that it is simply a fluctuation of consciousness, a temporary physical response
to our (temporary) physical environment. These are the moments that seem to
linger on forever, and even once the physical sensation has passed, often, a
piece of that experience remains lodged in our unconscious, ready to spring
back up at the drop of a hat.

When we
allow the Seer to remain the Observer instead of the Experiencer, we can start
to discriminate between ātmā and prakṛti, and instead of getting all mixed up in the
material world, intellect and ego, we can allow the Seer to simply shine its
light on everything as it unfolds.

As
B.K.S. Iyengar points out in his commentary on Patanjali’s sutras, the intellect
plays a critical role in this process, as it can easily become enmeshed in the
world of material objects. It says what is that? How did they get that and
what will it take for me to get one? Am I as smart or grounded or kind as
so-and-so? The intellect rules the small self, the ego. The great self is
in the heart. The intellect connects the head to the heart, but often this is
an unsteady connection. What is needed is not identification of the Seer with
the Seen, but transparency between the two. Once the intellect can easily
discriminate between the Seer and the Seen, then the ego dissolves, allowing
for the soul (puruṣa, the unchanging) to shine
its true light.